Monday, May 21, 2018

Geoengineering and Carbon Dioxide: Can We Escape Collective Insanity?

I've been reading about geoengineering as a solution for climate change.

I've noticed its introduction as a novel set of strategies for resolving the looming problems of erratic systems disequilibrium in weather produced (or exacerbated by) the industrial revolution and, I would add, atmospheric testing (see articles cited at bottom of this post for examples of geoengineering).

As I understand it, however, the problem of increasing carbon dioxide will NOT be solved by spraying "non-toxic limestone dust and/or sulfates" to block solar radiation (Fecht, 2017 see below).

Climate change is problematic because erratic weather and desertification will decrease food production, leading to refugees and wars, but rising carbon dioxide levels may pose an even more pressing problem.

They found that, on average, a typical participant’s cognitive scores dropped 21 percent with a 400 ppm increase in CO2. Here are their astonishing findings for four of the nine cognitive functions scored in a double-blind test of the impact of elevated CO2 levels....

NASA has also observed CO2-related health impacts on International Space Station (ISS) astronauts at much lower CO2 levels than expected and has identified a mechanism by which CO2 levels could affect the brain, as I will discuss in Part 2. As a result, NASA has already lowered the maximum allowable CO2 levels on the space station.

Carbon dioxide levels are increasing throughout our environment, not simply within our enclosures.

Increased carbon-dioxide levels would help explain the rising tide of insanity around us. Insanity is clearly visible as eruptions of anger and violence.

What I wonder is if the acceleration of carbon-dioxide production in the atmosphere will be mitigated, hidden, or exacerbated by the aerial spraying now under way, as explained in the following three new articles:

Kevin Bullis (December 21, 2009) The Geoengineering Gambit. MIT Technology Review. Available,https://www.technologyreview.com/s/416801/the-geoengineering-gambit/Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have already climbed to 385 parts per million, well over the 350 parts per million that many scientists say is the upper limit for a relatively stable climate. And despite government-led efforts to limit carbon emissions in many countries, annual emissions from fossil-fuel combustion are going up, not down: over the last two decades, they have increased 41 percent. In the last 10 years, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by nearly two parts per million every year.

…. strategies for geoengineering vary widely, from launching trillions of sun shields into space to triggering vast algae blooms in oceans. The one that has gained the most attention in recent years involves injecting millions of tons of sulfur dioxide high into the atmosphere to form microscopic particles that would shade the planet. Many geoengineering proposals date back decades, but until just a few years ago, most climate scientists considered them something between high-tech hubris and science fiction. Indeed, the subject was “forbidden territory,” says Ronald Prinn, a professor of atmospheric sciences at MIT. Not only is it unclear how such engineering feats would be accomplished and whether they would, in fact, moderate the climate, but most scientists worry that they could have disastrous unintended consequences. What’s more, relying on geoengineering to cool the earth, rather than cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, would commit future generations to maintaining these schemes indefinitely. For these reasons, mere discussion of geoengineering was considered a dangerous distraction for policy makersconsidering how to deal with global warming. Prinn says that until a few years ago, he thought its advocates were “off the deep end.”

…It’s not just a fringe idea anymore. The United Kingdom’s Royal Society issued a report on geoengineering in September that outlined the research and policy challenges ahead. The National Academies in the United States are working on a similar study. And John Holdren, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, broached the idea soon after he was appointed. “Climate change is happening faster than anyone previously predicted,” he said during one talk. “If we get sufficiently desperate, we may try to engage in geoengineering to try to create cooling effects.” To prepare ourselves, he said, we need to understand the possibilities and the possible side effects. Even the U.S. Congress has now taken an interest, holding its first hearings on geoengineering in November.

James Temple (2017, April 18). The Growing Case for Geoengineering. MIT Techology Review,https://www.technologyreview.com/s/604081/the-growing-case-for-geoengineering/Mitchell, a lanky, soft-spoken atmospheric physicist, believes these frigid clouds in the upper troposphere may offer one of our best fallback plans for combating climate change. The tiny ice crystals in cirrus clouds cast thermal radiation back against the surface of the earth, trapping heat like a blanket—or, more to the point, like carbon dioxide. But Mitchell, an associate research professor at the institute, thinks there might be a way to counteract the effects of these clouds.

It would work like this: Fleets of large drones would crisscross the upper latitudes of the globe during winter months, sprinkling the skies with tons of extremely fine dust-like materials every year. If Mitchell is right, this would produce larger ice crystals than normal, creating thinner cirrus clouds that dissipate faster. “That would allow more radiation into space, cooling the earth,” Mitchell says. Done on a large enough scale, this “cloud seeding” could ease global temperatures by as much as 1.4 °C, more than the planet has warmed since the Industrial Revolution, according to a separate Yale study.

Next year, Harvard physicist David Keith and his colleagues plan to spray a small amount of water vapor into the stratosphere. Although he won't be doing any actual geoengineering, the goal is to see how well this artificial cloud reflects the sun's energy back into space, before it can heat the Earth.

The idea of purposely manipulating the climate is a controversial topic, and some environmental scientists aren't even fans of feasibility studies like this. But as other types of climate initiatives dry up, geoengineering appears to be gaining momentum….

… Keith's team plans to experiment with the second type of strategy next year, when they launch a high-altitude balloon to a height of 12 miles. Once at altitude, the balloon will spray up to two pounds of material into the sky across a space about half a mile long and about as wide as the length of an American football field. Then the balloon will swoop back through the spray to monitor how the particles interact with each other, how they distribute themselves through the air, and how well they scatter light….

… nitially, Keith's team will start by spraying water. On later tries, they may release a non-toxic limestone dust and/or sulfates, but only in very small amounts. An op-ed in the Guardian notes that if they do decide to test sulfates, they'll release less material than a commercial aircraft typically emits during one minute of flight.

9 comments:

There is something wrong with the carbon dioxide hypothesis. And it does look as if we have entered a Grand Solar Minimum. More earthquakes and volcanic activity. A weakened earth's magnetic shield and an increase in cosmic rays. It has gotten to the point where almost nothing readily available in the way of news or information can be trusted. The conventional world is one of continuous deception. It is a magic show and a juggler's trick. We are supposed to guess under which cup the peanut is; and they are very good at guiding us to the wrong one.

After over twenty years of reading and viewing videos by various scientists I am convinced that many of the climatologists are simply corrupt. This may be the biggest scandal in science ever. Climatology is an area where you go along with the main stream agenda or you fail to get research funds. When a distinct cooling becomes unavoidable fact what will these scientists do? I suppose some can retire and hide. Science which originally was going to free man kind from superstition and ignorance has now become the source of both. It did not take long for the worldly powers to see how they could use science to increase their power and wealth. Even knowledgeable people use Roundup to kill weeds in their yards; fall for the need to have their children given 41 vaccines before the age of two; and many other things like cell phone usage. Make sure their homes have wifi 24/7. But nothing quite reaches the height of unscientific like the carbon dioxide panic.

I am not sure what your question entails? I suppose someone in an air tight room would eventually use up most of the oxygen, and then there would be a lot of carbon dioxide. Nor an advisable arrangement. What I am drawing attention to is that the rise in carbon dioxide follows a rise in temperature-warm water holds less carbon dioxide. During the time of classical Greece what was the co2 level? The Greeks were quite creative and original. In any case I just do not see the cause and effect case so many claim to. Are you aware of the sun is entering a Grand Solar Minimum and what that means? It happen every two hundred and some years.

No science background or medcal background. Significantly increased CO2 and decreased O2, in ambient air can kill you. Diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain. Think about why O2 stats are important in Asthma and COPD patients.

I think NASA orand or some other groups, did a huge geoengineering experiment last winter and fall. It effected the southwest USA and southeast USA, maybe elsewhere, from research, these thing occured in the southern USA

1. There was a weird cooling in the southern United States.

2. There was a strange mist in the air for months, that was similarly noted in many places.

3. There were lower than normal temperatures for months and precipitation increases.

4.There were sigificantly.small particulate levels in the air in cities from Phoenix, to San Antonio, in Georgia to Florida. Even Salt Lake City and Des Moines.

5. Strange KILLER flus, bronchitis.Lung FIBROSIS.

The CIA operative trolls, at enenews and elsewhere claimed it was from sun cycles and solar minimums. Perfect set-up for geoengineering in the upper atmosphere and probably lower atmosphere that was coordinated.

I have noticed cooler than ordinary temperatures and also saw the "mist" in the air - which my husband and I discussed at length. I recall reading that some Harvard engineers were planning on experimenting with the weather in my state of AZ:

Harvard engineers who launched the world’s biggest solar geoengineering research program may get a dangerous boost from Donald Trump, environmental organizations are warning.Under the Trump administration, enthusiasm appears to be growing for the controversial technology of solar geo-engineering, which aims to spray sulphate particles into the atmosphere to reflect the sun’s radiation back to space and decrease the temperature of Earth.Sometime in 2018, Harvard engineers David Keith and Frank Keutsch hope to test spraying from a high-altitude balloon over Arizona, in order to assess the risks and benefits of deployment on a larger scale.

There was a significant increase in small particulate levels in many cities and areas. Salt Lake City, San Antonio, New Orleans, reported increases in lung infections when the mist was present. Increases in status asthmaticas. Cannot prove anything. Working on research. It is interesting that the mini ice-age meme was being pushed so hard.

About Me

I am a Professor at a large public university. I study political economy and biopolitics (the politics of life). My interests are diverse but are broadly concerned with economic, social and environmental justice. I have published 5 books: Crisis Communication, Liberal Democracy and Ecological Sustainability: The Threat of Financial and Energy Complexes in the Twenty-First Century (2016); Fukusima and the Privatization of Risk (2013); Constructing Autism (2005); Governmentality, Biopower and Everyday Life (2008/2011); Governing Childhood (2010).
I also participated in an edited collection on Fukushima: Fukushima: Dispossession or Denuclearization (2014).